Echo Texts in English (9788211034298)

Echo

Echo texts in English is a collection of texts written in or translated into English. It contains exciting, amusing, moving and thought-provoking stories presented in different forms such as short stories, excerpts from novels, graphic stories, poems, paintings, photos and song lyrics.

Each title is accompanied by a short introduction and followed by a glossary and tasks.

Echo digital student offers a variety of student activities, including videos featuring young people from English-speaking countries and a library containing both fiction and non-fiction.

TEXTS IN ENGLISH 8–10

Echo digital teacher meets the requirements of the 2020 English curriculum by incorporating the latest research and the most advanced classroom teaching practices. A selection of flexible lesson plans ensure that teachers can provide students with the learing resources they need.

The new features of the 2020 English curriculum are explained using examples and references to the text collection and lesson plans.

Focus is on the following topics: > assessment > multilingualism > deep learning > differentiation > interdisciplinary work > basic skills > democracy and citizenship > health and life skills

ISBN 978-82-11-03429-8

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Echo

TEXTS IN ENGLISH

8 –10

Tony Burner Christian Carlsen Kevin Steinman

ECHO

Texts in English 8–10

ECHO

Texts in English 8–10 Tony Burner Christian Carlsen Kevin Steinman

Copyright © 2020 by Vigmostad & Bjørke AS All Rights Reserved First Edition / Printing 1 ISBN: 978-82-11-03429-8 Graphic production: John Grieg, Bergen Typeset and design by Bøk Oslo AS Cover illustration by Solveig Lid Ball

Enquiries about this text can be directed to: Fagbokforlaget Kanalveien 51 5068 Bergen Tel.: 55 38 88 00 Fax: 55 38 88 01 email: fagbokforlaget@fagbokforlaget.no www.fagbokforlaget.no

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-copying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Welcome to Echo!

This book will guide you through a varied collection of creative texts. We aim to introduce you to literature from different parts of the world, all written in or translated into the English language.

As a student you may already have discovered that literature can make a difference; some people even say that reading can change your life. Have you ever read a book, watched a film or listened to a song that has made an impression on you?

Echo is divided into four parts: Identity, English Around the World, Citizenship and Indigenous Peoples. Each part is organized thematically and includes many exciting genres ranging from excerpts of graphic novels, photos, comics and wordless stories to short stories, poems, parts of novels and song lyrics.

Many writers experiment with new ways of telling stories to engage their readers. We have worked hard to make sure that this text collection contains material that will inspire, challenge and excite you.

Why is reading fiction so important? Fiction texts open your mind to new ideas, entertain you and spark your sense of wonder. There is no right or wrong way to read fiction, and there isn’t just one way to understand a text. We hope that within this collection, you will find at least one text that makes you want to keep reading fiction outside of the classroom.

Reading fiction in English also expands your vocabulary, improves your writing skills, and lets you see the world from different points of view. Not only does this help you in the classroom, it also gives you an advantage when you encounter the English language in films, social media, music, while gaming or when travelling abroad.

We truly believe that reading fiction can make us better people.

When reading Echo, keep in mind that these texts are as much about you as they are about the characters in these stories. The most important thing is what you make of them.

Enjoy!

## an

PAR T 1

IDENTIT Y RAINBOW by John Agard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14

THE SWAN by Roald Dahl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16

AMERICAN BORN CHINESE by Gene Luen Yang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

38

FUNERAL BLUES by W .H . Auden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

48

HOT CHOCOLATE IS THICKER THAN BLOOD by Rupa Gulab . . . . . . . . .

50

WHISPERS AND MURMURS by Kaviya Ilango . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

57

I’M NOBODY! WHO ARE YOU? by Emily Dickinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

60

EVERYONE KNOWS PETTER’S GAY by Endre Lund Eriksen . . . . . . . . . . . . .

62

MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE by Bob Dylan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

72

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

74

HUMMING THROUGH MY FINGERS by Malorie Blackman . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

78

GIRL WITH BALLOON by Banksy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

95

DOWN BY THE SALLEY GARDENS by William B . Yeats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

96

COLLAGE by Alan Dunne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

98

FAMOUS FOR WHAT by Hollie McNish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

103

PAR T 2

EN GLIS H AR OU ND THE WOR LD MOTHER TONGUE by George the Poet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

112

LISTEN MR OXFORD DON by John Agard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

114

WHERE I COME FROM by Shikha Malaviya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

116

THE PRINCE AND THE TORTOISE by Chris Duff y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

118

FUNNY IN FARSI by Firoozeh Dumas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

127

SONNET 18 by William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

136

ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

138

LIKE A BEACON by Grace Nichols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

150

THE WOLF AND THE FOX by the Brothers Grimm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

152

THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE POET by Wendy Cope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

156

THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE POET by Giorgio de Chirico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

157

MOTHER TONGUE by Jocelyn Ross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

158

LULLABYE (GOODNIGHT, MY ANGEL) by Billy Joel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

164

PAR T 3

CIT IZEN SHIP CHRISTMAS TRUCE (CHRISTMAS 1914) by Brian Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

170

SLUDGE by Sarah Crossan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

172

THE ARRIVAL by Shaun Tan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

187

UNCLE SAM GODDAMN by Brother Ali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

198

PROTESTER, CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS by Don McCullin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

203

AMERICA IS A GUN by Brian Bilston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

204

BLACKBIRD by John Lennon / Paul McCartney (The Beatles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

206

STILL I RISE by Maya Angelou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

208

GIRL by Jamaica Kincaid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

211

STRANGE FRUIT by Abel Meeropol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

214

ANNE FRANK’S DIARY adapted by Ari Folman / illustrations by David Polonsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

216

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS by John Boyne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

224

WHAT WE’VE LOST by Sarah Engell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

238

PAR T 4

INDIGEN OU S PEOPLES MODERN NOMADS by Marja Helander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

252

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

254

BLUES FOR REDDRESS by Jay Soule alias Chippewar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

269

I LOST MY TALK by Rita Joe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

270

AMERICAN PROGRESS by John Gast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

272

A FIRST AMERICAN VIEWS HIS LAND by N . Scott Momaday . . . . . . . . . . . .

273

DEAR MATE by Kyle Lynch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

276

THE ADVENTURE OF CONLA edited by Philip Freeman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

287

THE MAN TO SEND RAIN CLOUDS by Leslie Marmon Silko . . . . . . . . . . . . .

290

UNTITLED by Stina Inga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

296

WAKA 93 by Robert Sullivan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

298

FOLLOW THE RABBIT-PROOF FENCE by Doris Pilkington Garimara . . . .

300

BECOME LIKE THEM by Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

312

Titles by genre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

315

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

317

16

Identity /

the swan by Roald Dahl

THE SWAN BY

roald dahl short story

> In this story, a young boy is forced to face increasingly dangerous challenges issued by bullies.

Ernie had been given a .22 rifle for his birthday. His father, who was already slouching on the sofa watching the telly at nine-thirty on this Saturday morning, said, “Let’s see what you can pot, boy. Make yourself useful. Bring us back a rabbit for supper.”

“There’s rabbits in that big field the other side of the lake,” Ernie said. “I seen ’em.”

“Then go out and nab one,” the father said, picking breakfast from between his front teeth with a split matchstick. “Go out and nab us a rabbit.”

“I’ll get yer two,” Ernie said.

“And on the way back,” the father said, “get me a quart bottle of brown ale.”

“Gimme the money, then,” Ernie said.

The father, without taking his eyes from the TV screen, fished in his pocket for a pound note. “And don’t try pinchin’ the change like you did last time,” he said. “You’ll get a thick ear if you do, birthday or no birthday.”

“Don’t worry,” Ernie said.

“And if you want to practise and get your eye in with that gun,” the father said, “birds is best. See ’ow many spadgers you can knock down, right?”

“Right,” Ernie said. “There’s spadgers all the way up the lane in the ’edges.

Spadgers is easy.”

“If you think spadgers is easy,” the father said, “go get yourself a jenny wren.

Jenny wrens is ’alf the size of spadgers and they never sit still for one second.

Get yourself a jenny wren before you start shootin’ yer mouth off about ’ow clever you is.”

slouching: sitting lazily

brown ale: dark, mild beer

spadger (English dialect): sparrow

the swan by Roald Dahl

“Now, Albert,” his wife said, looking up from the sink. “That’s not nice, shootin’ little birds in the nestin’ season. I don’t mind rabbits, but little birds in the nestin’ season is another thing altogether.”

“Shut your mouth,” the father said. “Nobody’s askin’ your opinion. And listen to me, boy,” he said to Ernie. “Don’t go waving that thing about in the street because you ain’t got no licence.

Stick it down your trouser-leg till you’re out in the country, right?”

“Don’t worry,” Ernie said. He took the gun and the box of bullets and went out to see what he could kill. He was a big lout of a boy, fifteen years old this birthday. Like his truck-driver father, he had small slitty, eyes set very close together near the top of the nose. His mouth was loose, the lips often wet. Brought up in a household where physical violence was an everyday occurrence, he was himself an extremely violent person. Most Saturday afternoons, he and a gang of friends travelled by train or bus to football matches, and if they didn’t manage to get into a bloody fight before they returned home, they considered it a wasted day. He took great pleasure in catching small boys after school and twisting their arms behind their backs. Then he would order them to say insulting and filthy things about their own parents.

“Ow! Please don’t, Ernie! Please!”

“Say it or I’ll twist your arm off!”

They always said it. Then he would give the arm an extra twist and the victim would go off in tears.

Ernie’s best friend was called Raymond. He lived four doors away, and he, too, was a big boy for his age. But while Ernie was heavy and loutish, Raymond was tall, slim and muscular.

Outside Raymond’s house, Ernie put two fingers in his mouth and gave a long shrill whistle. Raymond came out. “Look what I got for me birthday,” Ernie said, showing the gun.

“Cripes!” Raymond said. “We can have some fun with that!”

“Come on, then,” Ernie said. “We’re goin’ up to the big field the other side of the lake to get us a rabbit.”

licence: an official document which gives you permission to do, use, or own something

insulting: rude or offensive twist: turn

loutish: impolite and aggresive shrill: high-pitched and unpleasant

/ Identity

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Identity / the swan by Roald Dahl

The two boys set off. This was a Saturday morning in May, and the countryside was beautiful around the small village where the boys lived. The chestnut trees were in full flower and the hawthorn was white along the hedges. To reach the big rabbit field, Ernie and Raymond had first to walk down a narrow hedgy lane for half a mile. Then they must cross the railway line, and go round the big lake where wild ducks and moorhens and coots and ring-ouzels lived.

Beyond the lake, over the hill and down the other side, lay the rabbit field. This was all private land belonging to Mr Douglas Highton and the lake itself was a sanctuary for waterfowl.

All the way up the lane, they took turns with the gun, potting at small birds in the hedges. Ernie got a bullfinch and a hedge-sparrow. Raymond got a second bullfinch, a whitethroat and a yellowhammer. As each bird was killed, they tied it by the legs to a line of string. Raymond never went anywhere without a big ball of string in his jacket pocket, and a knife. Now they had five little birds dangling on the line of string.

“You know something,” Raymond said. “We can eat these.”

“Don’t talk so daft,” Ernie said. “There’s not enough meat on one of those to feed a woodlouse.”

“There is, too,” Raymond said. “The Frenchies eat ’em and so do the Eyeties.

Mr Sanders told us about it in class. He said the Frenchies and the Eyeties put up nets and catch ’em by the million and then they eat ’em.”

“All right, then,” Ernie said. “Let’s see ’ow many we can get. Then we’ll take ’em ’ome and put ’em in the rabbit stew.”

As they progressed up the lane, they shot at every little bird they saw. By the time they got to the railway line, they had fourteen small birds dangling on the line of string.

“Hey!” whispered Ernie, pointing with a long arm. “Look over there!”

There was a group of trees and bushes alongside the railway line, and beside one of the bushes stood a small boy. He was looking up into the branches of an old tree through a pair of binoculars.

“You know who that is?” Raymond whispered back. “It’s that little twerp Watson.”

“You’re right!” Ernie whispered. “It’s Watson, the scum of the earth!”

Peter Watson was always the enemy. Ernie and Raymond detested him because he was nearly everything that they were not. He had a small frail body. His face was freckled and he wore spectacles with thick lenses. He was

hedge: a row of bushes or small trees

binoculars: instrument used for viewing distant objects outdoors

twerp: silly or stupid spectacles: glasses

the swan by Roald Dahl / Identity

a brilliant pupil, already in the senior class at school although he was only thirteen. He loved music and played the piano well. He was no good at games. He was quiet and polite. His clothes, although patched and darned, were always clean. And his father did not drive a truck or work in a factory. He worked in the bank.

“Let’s give the little perisher a fright,” Ernie whispered.

The two bigger boys crept up close to the small boy, who didn’t see them because he still had binoculars to his eyes.

“Ands up!” shouted Ernie, pointing the gun.

Peter Watson jumped. He lowered the binoculars and stared through his spectacles at the two intruders.

“Go on!” Ernie shouted. “Stick ’em up!”

“I wouldn’t point that gun if I were you,” Peter Watson said.

“We’re givin’ the orders round ’ere!” Ernie said.

“So stick ’em up,” Raymond said, “unless you want a slug in the guts!”

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Identity / the swan by Roald Dahl

Peter Watson stood quite still, holding the binoculars in front of him with both hands. He looked at Raymond. Then he looked at Ernie. He was not afraid, but he knew better than to play the fool with these two. He had suffered a good deal from their attentions over the years.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I want you to stick ’em up!” Ernie yelled at him. “Can’t you understand English?”

Peter Watson didn’t move.

“I’ll count to five,” Ernie said. “And if they’re not up by then, you get it in the guts.

One … Two … Three …”

Peter Watson raised his arms slowly above his head. It was the only sensible thing to do. Raymond stepped forward and snatched the binoculars from his hands. “What’s this?” he snapped. “Who you spyin’ on?”

“Nobody.”

“Don’t lie, Watson. Them things is used for spyin”! I’ll bet you was spyin’ on us! That’s right, ain’t it? Confess it!”

“I certainly wasn’t spying on you.”

“Give ’im a clip over the ear,” Ernie said. “Teach ’im not to lie to us.”

“I’ll do that in a minute,” Raymond said. “I’m just workin’ meself up.”

Peter Watson considered the possibility of trying to escape. All he could do would be to turn and run, and that was pointless. They’d catch him in seconds.

And if he shouted for help, there was no one to hear him. All he could do, therefore, was to keep calm and try to talk his way out of the situation.

“Keep them ’ands up!” Ernie barked, waving the barrel of the gun gently from side to side the way he had seen it done by gangsters on the telly. “Go on, laddie, reach!”

Peter did as he was told.

“So ’oo was you spyin’ on?” Raymond asked. “Out with it!”

“I was watching a green woodpecker,” Peter said.

“A what?”

“A male green woodpecker. He was tapping the trunk of that old dead tree, searching for grubs.”

“Where is ’ee?” Ernie snapped, raising his gun. “I’ll ’ave ’im!”

“No, you won’t,” Peter said, looking at the string of tiny birds slung over Raymond’s shoulder. “He flew off the moment you shouted. Woodpeckers are extremely timid.”

suffer: experience something bad or unpleasant

snatch: quickly take something in a rude way

confess: admit a crime or a fault timid: easily scared

the swan by Roald Dahl / Identity

“What you watchin’ ’im for?” Raymond asked suspiciously. “What’s the point? Don’t you ’ave nothin’ better to do?”

“It’s fun watching birds,” Peter said. “It’s a lot more fun than shooting them.”

“Why, you cheeky little bleeder!” Ernie cried. “So you don’t like us shootin’ birds, eh? Is that what you’re sayin’?”

“I think it’s absolutely pointless.”

“You don’t like anything we do, isn’t that right?” Raymond said.

Peter didn’t answer.

“Well, let me tell you something,” Raymond went on. “We don’t like anything you do either.”

Peter’s arms were beginning to ache. He decided to take a risk. Slowly, he lowered them to his sides.

“Up!” yelled Ernie. “Get ’em up!”

“What if I refuse?”

“Blimey! You got a ruddy nerve, ain’t you?” Ernie said. “I’m tellin’ you for the last time, if you don’t stick ’em up I’ll pull the trigger!”

“That would be a criminal act,” Peter said. “It would be a case for the police.”

“And you’d be a case for the ’ospital!” Ernie said.

“Go ahead and shoot,” Peter said. “Then they’ll send you to Borstal. That’s prison.”

He saw Ernie hesitate.

“You’re really askin’ for it, ain’t you?” Raymond said.

“I’m simply asking to be left alone,” Peter said. “I haven’t done you any harm.”

“You’re a stuck-up little squirt,” Ernie said. “That’s exactly what you are, a stuck-up little squirt.”

Raymond leaned over and whispered something in Ernie’s ear. Ernie listened intently. Then he slapped his thigh and said, “I like it! It’s a great idea!”

Ernie placed his gun on the ground and advanced upon the small boy. He grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Raymond took the roll of string from his pocket and cut off a length of it. Together, they forced the boy’s arms in front of him and tied his wrists together tight.

“Now the legs,” Raymond said. Peter struggled and received a punch in the stomach. That winded him and he lay still. Next, they tied his ankles together with more string. He was now trussed up like a chicken and completely helpless.

suspiciously: with suspicion or distrust

ache: lasting pain stuck-up: snobbish

squirt: a small or insignificant person

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Identity / the swan by Roald Dahl

Ernie picked up his gun, and then, with his other hand, he grabbed one of Peter’s arms. Raymond grabbed the other arm and together they began to drag the boy over the grass towards the railway lines.

Peter kept absolutely quiet. Whatever it was they were up to, talking to them wasn’t going to help matters.

They dragged their victim down the embankment and on to the railway lines themselves. Then one took the arms and the other the feet and they lifted him up and laid him down again lengthwise right between two lines.

“You’re mad!” Peter said. “You can’t do this!” “’Oo says we can’t? This is just a little lesson we’re teachin’ you not to be cheeky.”

“More string,” Ernie said.

Raymond produced the ball of string and the two larger boys now proceeded to tie the victim down in such a way that he couldn’t wriggle away from between the rails. They did this by looping string around each of his arms and then threading the string under the rails on either side. They did the same with his middle body and his ankles. When they had finished, Peter Watson was strung down helpless and virtually immobile between the rails. The only parts of his body he could move to any extent were his head and feet.

Ernie and Raymond stepped back to survey their handiwork. “We done a nice job,” Ernie said.

“There’s trains every ’arf ’our on this line,” Raymond said. “We ain’t gonna ’ave long to wait.”

“This is murder!” cried the small boy lying between the rails.

“No it ain’t,” Raymond told him. “It ain’t anything of the sort.”

“Let me go! Please let me go! I’ll be killed if a train comes along!”

“If you are killed, sonny boy,” Ernie said, “it’ll be your own ruddy fault and I’ll tell you why. Because if you lift your ’ead up like you’re doin’ now, then you’ve ’ad it, chum! You keep down flat and you might just possibly get away with it. On the other ’and, you might not because I ain’t exactly sure ’ow much clearance them trains’ve got underneath. You ’appen to know, Raymond, ’ow much clearance them trains got underneath?”

“Very little,” Raymond said. “They’re built ever so close to the ground.”

“Might be enough and it might not,” Ernie said.

embankment: wall of earth that is meant to carry for instance a railway

proceeded: began an action

chum: friend

the swan by Roald Dahl / Identity

“Let’s put it this way,” Raymond said. “It’d probably just about be enough for an ordinary person like me or you, Ernie. But Mister Watson ’ere I’m not so sure about and I’ll tell you why.”

“Tell me,” Ernie said, egging him on.

“Mister Watson ’ere’s got an extra big ’ead, that’s why. “Ee’s so flippin’ big’eaded I personally think the bottom bit of the train’s goin’ to scrape ’im whatever ’appens. I’m not saying it’s goin’ to take ’is ’ead off, mind you. In fact, I’m pretty sure it ain’t goin’ to do that. But it’s goin’ to give ’is face a good old scrapin’ over. You can be quite sure of that.”

“I think you’re right,” Ernie said.

“It don’t do,” Raymond said, “to ’ave a great big swollen ’ead full of brains if you’re lyin’ on the railway line with a train comin’ towards you. That’s right, ain’t it, Ernie?”

“That’s right,” Ernie said.

The two bigger boys climbed back up the embankment and sat on the grass behind some bushes. Ernie produced a pack of cigarettes and they both lit up.

Peter Watson, lying helpless between the rails, realized now that they were not going to release him. These were dangerous, crazy boys.

They lived for the moment and never considered the consequences. I must try to keep calm and think, Peter told himself. He lay there, quite still, weighing

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Identity / the swan by Roald Dahl

his chances. His chances were good. The highest part of his head was his nose.

He estimated the end of his nose was sticking up about four inches above the rails. Was that too much? He wasn’t quite sure what clearance these modern diesels had above the ground. It certainly wasn’t very much. The back of his head was resting upon loose gravel in between two sleepers. He must try to burrow down a little into the gravel. So he began to wriggle his head from side to side, pushing the gravel away and gradually making for himself a small indentation, a hole in the gravel. In the end, he reckoned he had lowered his head an extra two inches. That would do for the head. But what about the feet? They were sticking up, too. He took care of that by swinging the two tied-together feet over to one side so they lay almost flat.

He waited for the train to come.

Would the driver see him? It was very unlikely, for this was the main line, London, Doncaster, York, Newcastle and Scotland, and they used huge long engines in which the driver sat in a cab way back and kept an eye open only for the signals. Along this stretch of the track trains travelled around eighty miles an hour.

Peter knew that. He had sat on the bank many times watching them. When he was younger, he used to keep a record of their numbers in a little book, and sometimes the engines had names written on their sides in gold letters.

Either way, he told himself, it was going to be a terrifying business. The noise would be deafening, and the swish of the eighty-mile-an-hour wind wouldn’t be much fun either. He wondered for a moment whether there would be any kind of vacuum created underneath the train as it rushed over him, sucking him upward. There might well be. So whatever happened, he must concentrate everything upon pressing his entire body against the ground. Don’t go limp. Keep stiff and tense and press down into the ground.

“How’re you doin’, rat-face!” one of them called out to him from the bushes above. “What’s it like waitin’ for the execution?”

He decided not to answer. He watched the blue sky above his head where a single cumulus cloud was drifting slowly from left to right. And to keep his mind off the thing that was going to happen soon, he played a game that his father had taught him long ago on a hot summer’s day when they were lying on their backs in the grass above the cliffs at Beachy Head. The game was to look for strange faces in the folds and shadows and billows of a cumulus cloud. If you looked hard enough, his father had said, you would always find a face of

gravel: small pieces of stone

wriggle: twist and turn quickly indentation: shallow hole

go limp: become soft execution: planned killing

the swan by Roald Dahl / Identity

some sort up there. Peter let his eyes travel slowly over the cloud. In one place, he found a one-eyed man with a beard. In another, there was a long-chinned laughing witch. An aeroplane came across the cloud travelling from east to west. It was a small high-winged monoplane with a red fuselage. An old Piper Cub, he thought it was. He watched it until it disappeared.

And then, quite suddenly, he heard a curious little vibrating sound coming from the rails on either side of him It was very soft, this sound, scarcely audible, a tiny little humming, thrumming whisper that seemed to be coming along the rails from far away.

That’s a train, he told himself.

The vibrating along the rails grew louder, then louder still. He raised his head and looked down the long and absolutely straight railway line that stretched away for a mile or more into the distance. It was then that he saw the train. At first it was only a speck, a faraway black dot, but in those few seconds that he kept his head raised, the dot grew bigger and bigger, and it began to take shape, and soon it was no longer a dot but the big, square, blunt front-end of a diesel express. Peter dropped his head and pressed it down hard into the small hole he had dug for it in the gravel. He swung his feet over to one side. He shut his eyes tight and tried to sink his body into the ground.

The train came over him like an explosion. It was as though a gun had gone off in his head. And with the explosion came a tearing, screaming wind that was like a hurricane blowing down his nostrils and into his lungs. The noise was shattering. The wind choked him. He felt as if he were being eaten alive and swallowed up in the belly of a screaming murderous monster.

And then it was over. The train had gone. Peter opened his eyes and saw the blue sky and the big white cloud still drifting overhead. It was all over now and he had done it. He had survived.

“It missed ’im,” said a voice.

“What a pity,” said another voice.

He glanced sideways and saw the two large louts standing over him.

“Cut ’im loose,” Ernie said.

Raymond cut the strings binding him to the rails on either side.

“Undo ’is feet so ’ee can walk, but keep ’is ’ands tied,’ Ernie said.

Raymond cut the strings around his ankles. “Get up,” Ernie said.

Peter got to his feet.

scarcely: only just, hardly

nostrils: the openings of the nose

shattering: very shocking

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“You’re still a prisoner, matey,” Ernie said. “What about them rabbits?”

Raymond asked.

“I thought we was goin’ to try for a few rabbits?”

“Plenty of time for that,” Ernie answered. “I just thought we’d push the little bleeder into the lake on the way.”

“Good,” Raymond said. “Cool ’im down.”

“You’ve had your fun,” Peter Watson said. “Why don’t you let me go now?”

“Because you’re a prisoner,” Ernie said. “And you ain’t just no ordinary prisoner neither. You’re a spy. And you know what ’appens to spies when they get caught, don’t you? They get put up against the wall and shot.”

Peter didn’t say any more after that. There was no point at all in provoking those two. The less he said to them and the less he resisted them, the more chance he would have of escaping injury. He had no doubt whatsoever that in their present mood they were capable of doing him quite serious bodily harm.

He knew for a fact that Ernie had once broken little Wally Simpson’s arm after school and Wally’s parents had gone to the police. He had also heard Raymond boasting about what he called “putting the boot in” at the football matches they went to. This, he understood, meant kicking someone in the face or body when he was lying on the ground. They were hooligans, these two, and from what Peter read in his father’s newspaper nearly every day, they were not by any means on their own. It seemed the whole country was full of hooligans.

They wrecked the interiors of trains, they fought pitched battles in the streets with knives and bicycle chains and metal clubs, they attacked pedestrians, especially other young boys walking alone, and they smashed up roadside cafes. Ernie and Raymond, though perhaps not quite yet fully qualified hooligans, were most definitely on their way.

Therefore, Peter told himself, he must continue to be passive. Do not insult them. Do not aggravate them in any way. And above all, do not try to take them on physically. Then, hopefully, in the end, they might become bored with this nasty little game and go off to shoot rabbits.

The two larger boys had each taken hold of one of Peter’s arms and they were marching him across the next field towards the lake. The prisoner’s wrists were still tied together in front of him Ernie carried the gun in his spare hand.

Raymond carried the binoculars he had taken from Peter. They came to the lake.

The lake was beautiful on this golden May morning. It was a long and fairly narrow lake with tall willow trees growing here and there along its banks. In

matey: friend bleeder: person viewed with contempt

boasting: talking with great pride and selfsatisfaction hooligans: violent troublemakers

smash up: destroy insult: treat someone rudely, offend

the swan by Roald Dahl

/ Identity

the middle, the water was clear and clean, but nearer to the land there was a forest of reeds and bulrushes.

Ernie and Raymond marched their prisoner to the edge of the lake and there they stopped.

“Now then,” Ernie said. “What I suggest is this. You take ’is arms and I take ’is legs and we’ll swing the little perisher one two three as far out as we can into them nice muddy reeds. ’Ow’s that?”

“I like it,” Raymond said. And leave ’is ’ands tied together, right?”

“Right,” Ernie said. “’Ow’s that with you, snot-nose?”

“If that’s what you’re going to do, I can’t very well stop you,” Peter said, trying to keep his voice cool and calm.

“Just you try and stop us,” Ernie said, grinning, “and then see what ’appens to you.”

“One last question,” Peter said. “Did you ever take on somebody your own size?”

The moment he said it, he knew he had made a mistake. He saw the flush coming to Ernie’s cheeks and there was a dangerous little spark dancing in his small black eyes.

Luckily, at that very moment, Raymond saved the situation. “Hey! Lookit that bird swimmin’ in the reeds over there!” he shouted, pointing. “Let’s ’ave ’im!”

It was a mallard drake, with a curvy spoon-shaped yellow beak and a head of emerald green with a white ring round its neck. “Now those you really can eat,” Raymond went on. “It’s a wild duck.”

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“I’ll ’ave ’im!” Ernie cried. He let go of the prisoner’s arm and lifted the gun to his shoulder.

“This is a bird sanctuary,” Peter said.

“A what?” Ernie asked, lowering the gun. “Nobody shoots birds here. It’s strictly forbidden.” “’Oo says it’s forbidden?”

“The owner, Mr Douglas Highton.”

“You must be joking,” Ernie said and he raised the gun again. He fired. The duck crumpled in the water.

“Go get ’im,” Ernie said to Peter. “Cut ’is ’ands free, Raymond, ’cause then ’ee can be our flippin’ gun-dog and fetch the birds after we shoot ’em.”

Raymond took out his knife and cut the string binding the small boy’s wrists.

“Go on!” Ernie snapped. “Go get ’im!”

The killing of the beautiful duck had disturbed Peter very much. “I refuse,” he said.

Ernie hit him across the face hard with his open hand. Peter didn’t fall down, but a small trickle of blood began running out of one nostril.

“You dirty little perisher!” Ernie said. “You just try refusin’ me one more time and I’m goin’ to make you a promise. And the promise is like this. You refuse me just one more time and I’m goin’ to knock out every single one of them shiny white front teeth of yours, top and bottom. You understand that?”

Peter said nothing.

“Answer me!” Ernie barked. “Do you understand that?”

“Yes,” Peter said quietly. “I understand.” “Get on with it, then!” Ernie shouted.

Peter walked down the bank, into the muddy water, through the reeds, and picked up the duck. He brought it back and Raymond took it from him and tied string around its legs.

“Now we got a retriever dog with us, let’s see if we can’t get us a few more of them ducks,” Ernie said. He strolled along the bank, gun in hand, searching the reeds. Suddenly he stopped. He crouched. He put a finger to his lips and said, “Sshh!”

Raymond went over to join him. Peter stood a few yards away, his trousers covered in mud up to the knees.

“Lookit in there!” Ernie whispered, pointing into a dense patch of bulrushes.

“D’you see what I see?”

wrists: part where the hand meets the arm muddy: dirty looking

crouch: to bend one’s knees so that one is low to the ground, body forward and down

dense: compact

the swan by Roald Dahl / Identity

“Holy cats!” cried Raymond. “What a beauty!”

Peter, peering from a little further away into the rushes, saw at once what they were looking at. It was a swan, a magnificent white swan sitting serenely upon her nest. The nest itself was a huge pile of reeds and rushes that rose up about two feet above the waterline, and upon the top of all this the swan was sitting like a great white lady of the lake. Her head was turned towards the boys on the bank, alert and watchful. “’Ow about that?” Ernie said. “That’s better’n ducks, ain’t it?”

“You think you can get ’er?” Raymond said.

“Of course I can get ’er. I’ll drill a ’ole right through ’er noggin!”

Peter felt a wild rage beginning to build up inside him. He walked up to the two bigger boys. “I wouldn’t shoot that swan if I were you,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm. “Swans are the most protected birds in England.”

“And what’s that got to do with it?” Ernie asked him, sneering.

“And I’ll tell you something else,” Peter went on, throwing all caution away.

“Nobody shoots a bird sitting on its nest. Absolutely nobody! She may even have cygnets under her! You just can’t do it!”

pile of reeds: heap of tall stalks of grass

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“’Oo says we can’t?” Raymond asked, sneering. “Mister bleedin’ snottynose Peter Watson, is that the one ’oo says it?”

“The whole country says it,” Peter answered. “The law says it and the police say it and everyone says it!”

“I don’t say it!” Ernie said, raising his gun.

“Don’t!” screamed Peter. “Please don’t!”

Crack! The gun went off. The bullet hit the swan right in the middle of her elegant head and the long white neck collapsed on to the side of the nest.

“Got ’er!” cried Ernie.

“Hot shot!” shouted Raymond.

Ernie turned to Peter who was standing small and white-faced and absolutely rigid. “Now go get ’er,” he ordered.

Once again, Peter didn’t move.

Ernie came up close to the smaller boy and bent down and stuck his face right up to Peter’s. “I’m tellin’ you for the last time,” he said, soft and dangerous. “Go get ’er!”

Tears were running down Peter’s face as he went slowly down the bank and entered the water. He waded out to the dead swan and picked it up tenderly with both hands. Underneath it were two tiny cygnets, their bodies covered with yellow down. They were huddling together in the centre of the nest.

“Any eggs?” Ernie shouted from the bank.

“No,” Peter answered. “Nothing.” There was a chance, he felt, that when the male swan returned, it would continue to feed the young ones on its own if they were left in the nest. He certainly did not want to leave them to the tender mercies of Ernie and Raymond.

Peter carried the dead swan back to the edge of the lake. He placed it on the ground. Then he stood up and faced the two others. His eyes, still wet with tears, were blazing with fury. “That was a filthy thing to do!” he shouted. “It was a stupid pointless act of vandalism! You’re a couple of ignorant idiots! It’s you who ought to be dead instead of the swan! You’re not fit to be alive!”

He stood there, as tall as he could stand, splendid in his fury, facing the two taller boys and not caring any longer what they did to him.

Ernie didn’t hit him this time. He seemed just a tiny bit taken aback at first by this outburst, but he quickly recovered. And now his loose lips formed themselves into a sly, wet smirk and his small close-together eyes began to glint in a most malicious manner. “So you like swans, is that right?” he asked softly.

snotty-nose: having mucus running out of the nose

huddling: lie close to one another

outburst: a sudden release of strong emotion

rigid: stiff as a result of fear or shock

blazing: burning brightly

smirk: a smug smile malicious: hateful

the swan by Roald Dahl / Identity

“I like swans and I hate you!” Peter cried.

“And am I right in thinkin’,” Ernie went on, still smirking, “am I absolutely right in thinkin’ that you wished this old swan down ’ere were alive instead of dead?”

“That’s a stupid question!” Peter shouted.

“Ee needs a clip over the ear-’ole,” Raymond said.

“Wait,” Ernie said. “I’m doin’ this exercise.” He turned back to Peter. “So if I could make this swan come alive and go flyin’ round the sky all over again, then you’d be ’appy. Right?”

“That’s another stupid question!” Peter cried out. “Who d’you think you are?”

“I’ll tell you ’oo I am,” Ernie said. “I’m a magic man, that’s ’oo I am. And just to make you ’appy and contented, I am about to do a magic trick that’ll make this dead swan come alive and go flyin’ all over the sky once again.”

“Rubbish!” Peter said. “I’m going.” He turned and started to walk away.

“Grab ’im!” Ernie said.

Raymond grabbed him.

“Leave me alone!” Peter cried out.

Raymond slapped him on the cheek, hard. “Now, now,” he said. “Don’t fight with auntie, not unless you want to get ’urt.”

“Gimme your knife,” Ernie said, holding out his hand. Raymond gave him his knife.

Ernie knelt down beside the dead swan and stretched out one of its enormous wings. “Watch this,” he said.

“What’s the big idea?” Raymond asked.

“Wait and see,” Ernie said. And now, using the knife, he proceeded to sever the great white wing from the swan’s body. There is a joint in the bone where the wing meets the side of the bird, and Ernie located this and slid the knife into the joint and cut through the tendon. The knife was very sharp and it cut well, and soon the wing came away all in one piece.

Ernie turned the swan over and severed the other wing.

“String,” he said, holding out his hand to Raymond.

Raymond, who was grasping Peter by the arm, was watching fascinated.

“Where’d you learn ’ow to butcher up a bird like that?” he asked.

“With chickens,” Ernie said. “We used to nick chickens from up at Stevens Farm and cut ’em up into chicken parts and flog ’em to a shop in Aylesbury.

Gimme the string.”

slapped: hit, struck

joint: place where two parts of a skeleton fit together

tendon: tissue that attaches muscle to a bone

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Raymond gave him the ball of string. Ernie cut off six pieces, each about a yard long.

There are a series of strong bones running along the top edge of a swan’s wing, and Ernie took one of the wings and started tying one end of the bits of string all the way along the top edge of the great wing. When he had done this, he lifted the wing with the six string-ends dangling from it and said to Peter, “Stick out your arm.”

“You’re absolutely mad!” the smaller boy shouted. “You’re demented!”

“Make ’im stick it out,” Ernie said to Raymond.

Raymond held up a clenched fist in front of Peter’s face and dabbed it gently against his nose. “You see this,” he said. “Well I’m goin’ to smash you right in the kisser with it unless you do exactly as you’re told, see? Now, stick out your arm, there’s a good little boy.”

Peter felt his resistance collapsing. He couldn’t hold out against these people any longer. For a few seconds, he stared at Ernie. Ernie with the tiny closetogether black eyes gave the impression he would be capable of doing just about anything if he got really angry. Ernie, Peter felt at that moment, might

yard: nearly a metre demented: mentally ill

fist: closed hand

resistance: refusal to accept or comply with something

the swan by Roald Dahl / Identity

quite easily kill a person if he were to lose his temper. Ernie, the dangerous backward child, was playing games now and it would be very unwise to spoil his fun. Peter held out an arm.

Ernie then proceeded to tie the six string ends one by one to Peter’s arm, and when he had finished, the white wing of the swan was securely attached along the entire length of the arm itself.

“Ow’s that, eh?” Ernie said, stepping back and surveying his work.

“Now the other one,” Raymond said, catching on to what Ernie was doing.

“You can’t expect ’im to go flyin’ round the sky with only one wing, can you?”

“Second wing comin’ up,” Ernie said. He knelt down again and tied six more lengths of string to the top bones of the second wing. Then he stood up again.

“Let’s ’ave the other arm,” he said. Peter, feeling sick and ridiculous, held out his other arm. Ernie strapped the wing tightly along the length of it.

“Now!” Ernie cried, clapping his hands and dancing a little jig on the grass.

“Now we got ourselves a real live swan all over again! Didn’t I tell you I was a magic man? Didn’t I tell you I was goin’ to do a magic trick and make this dead swan come alive and go flyin’ all over the sky? Didn’t I tell you that?”

Peter stood there in the sunshine beside the lake on this beautiful May morning, the enormous, limp and slightly bloodied wings dangling grotesquely at his sides. “Have you finished?” he said.

“Swans don’t talk,” Ernie said. “Keep your flippin’ beak shut! And save your energy, laddie, because you’re goin’ to need all the strength and energy you got when it comes to flyin’ round in the sky.” Ernie picked up his gun from the ground, then he grabbed Peter by the back of the neck with his free hand and said, “March!”

They marched along the bank of the lake until they came to a tall and graceful willow tree. There they halted. The tree was a weeping willow, and the long branches hung down from a great height and almost touched the surface of the lake.

“And now the magic swan is goin’ to show us a bit of magic flyin’,” Ernie announced. “So what you’re goin’ to do, Mister Swan, is to climb up to the very top of this tree, and when you get there you’re goin’ to spread out your wings like a clever little swannee-swan-swan and you’re goin’ to take off!”

“Fantastic!” cried Raymond. “Terrific! I like it very much!”

“So do I,” Ernie said. “Because now we’re goin’ to find out just exactly ’ow clever this clever little swannee-swan-swan really is. “Ee’s terribly clever at

attached: fastened surveying: studying closely

jig: a lively dance

graceful: elegant

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school, we all know that, and ’ee’s top of the class and everything else that’s lovely, but let’s see just exactly ’ow clever ’ee is when ’ee’s at the top of the tree!

Right, Mister Swan?” He gave Peter a push towards the tree.

How much further could this madness go? Peter wondered. He was beginning to feel a little mad himself, as though nothing was real any more and none of it was actually happening. But the thought of being high up in the tree and out of reach of these hooligans at last was something that appealed to him greatly.

When he was up there, he could stay up there. He doubted very much if they would bother to come up after him. And even if they did, he could surely climb away from them along a thin limb that would not take the weight of two people.

The tree was a fairly easy one to climb, with several low branches to give him a start up. He began climbing. The huge white wings dangling from his arms kept getting in the way, but it didn’t matter. What mattered now to Peter was that every inch upward was another inch away from his tormentors below. He had never been a great one for tree-climbing and he wasn’t especially good at it, but nothing in the world was going to stop him from getting to the top of this one. And once he was there, he thought it unlikely they would even be able to see him because of the leaves.

“Higher!” shouted Ernie’s voice. “Keep goin’!”

Peter kept going, and eventually he arrived at a point where it was impossible to go higher. His feet were now standing on a branch that was about as thick as a person’s wrist, and this particular branch reached far out over the lake and then curved gracefully downward. All the branches above him were very thin and whippy, but the one he was holding on to with his hands was quite strong enough for the purpose. He stood there, resting after the climb.

He looked down for the first time. He was very high up, at least fifty feet. But he couldn’t see the two boys. They were no longer standing at the base of the tree. Was it possible they had gone away at last?

“All right, Mister Swan!” came the dreaded voice of Ernie. “Now listen carefully!”

The two of them had walked some distance away from the tree to a point where they had a clear view of the small boy at the top. Looking down at them now, Peter realized how very sparse and slender the leaves of a willow tree were. They gave him almost no cover at all.

tormentor: person causing someone great pain

dreaded: regarded with great fear

the swan by Roald Dahl / Identity

“Listen carefully, Mister Swan!” the voice was shouting. “Start walking out along that branch you’re standin’ on! Keep goin’ till you’re right over the nice muddy water! Then you take off!”

Peter didn’t move. He was fifty feet above them now and they weren’t ever going to reach him again. From down below, there was a long silence. It lasted maybe half a minute. He kept his eyes on the two distant figures in the field.

They were standing quite still, looking up at him.

“All right then, Mister Swan!” came Ernie’s voice again. “I’m gonna count to ten, right? And if you ain’t spread them wings and flown away by then, I’m gonna shoot you down instead with this little gun! And that’ll make two swans I’ve knocked off today instead of one! So here we go, Mister Swan!

One! … Two! … Three! … Four! … Five! … Six! …”

Peter remained still. Nothing would make him move from now on.

“Seven! … Eight! … Nine! … Ten!” Peter saw the gun coming up to the shoulder. It was pointing straight at him Then he heard the crack of the rifle and the zip of the bullet as it whistled past his head. It was a frightening thing. But he still didn’t move. He could see Ernie loading the gun with another bullet.

“Last chance!” yelled Ernie. “The next one’s gonna get you!”

Peter stayed put. He waited. He watched the boy who was standing among the buttercups in the meadow far below with the other boy beside him. The gun came up once again to the shoulder.

This time he heard the crack at the same instant the bullet hit him in the thigh. There was no pain, but the force of it was devastating. It was as though someone had whacked him on the leg with a sledgehammer, and it knocked both feet off the branch he was standing on. He scrabbled with his hands to hang on. The small branch he was holding on to bent over and split.

Some people, when they have taken too much and have been driven beyond the point of endurance, simply crumble and give up. There are others, though they are not many, who will for some reason always be unconquerable. You meet them in time of war and also in time of peace. They have an indomitable spirit and nothing, neither pain nor torture nor threat of death, will cause them to give up.

Little Peter Watson was one of these. And as he fought and scrabbled to prevent himself from falling out of the top of that tree, it came to him suddenly that he was going to win. He looked up and he saw a light shining over

branch: part of tree growing out of the trunk

devastating: damaging

endurance: staying power

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the swan by Roald Dahl / Identity

the waters of the lake that was of such brilliance and beauty he was unable to look away from it. The light was beckoning him, drawing him on, and he dived towards the light and spread his wings.

Three different people reported seeing a great white swan circling over the village that morning, a school-teacher called Emily Mead, a man who was replacing some tiles on the roof of the chemist’s shop whose name was William Eyles, and a boy called John Underwood who was flying his model aeroplane in a nearby field.

And that morning, Mrs Watson, who was washing up some dishes in her kitchen sink, happened to glance up through the window at the exact moment when something huge and white came flopping down on to the lawn in her back garden. She rushed outside. She went down on her knees beside the small crumpled figure of her only son. “Oh, my darling!” she cried, near to hysterics and hardly believing what she saw. “My darling boy! What happened to you?”

“My leg hurts,” Peter said, opening his eyes. Then he fainted.

“It’s bleeding!” she cried and she picked him up and carried him inside.

Quickly she phoned for the doctor and the ambulance. And while she was waiting for help to come, she fetched a pair of scissors and began cutting the string.

TASKS 1

Why do Ernie and Raymond dislike Peter?

2 How is the language Ernie and Raymond use different from Peter’s?

3 How does Peter’s response to Ernie and Raymond’s bullying change throughout the story?

tiles: flat pieces of baked clay for covering a floor or a wall

4 What does Peter’s response to Ernie and Raymond’s bullying tell us about his character?

5 Have you ever been bullied?

If so, how did you handle it?

chemist’s shop: shop selling medicines, drugs and toiletries

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american born chinese by Gene Luen Yang

AMERICAN BORN CHINesE BY

gene luen yang graphic novel

> What do you think the title “American Born Chinese” means?

american born chinese by Gene Luen Yang / Identity

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american born chinese by Gene Luen Yang / Identity

(Excerpt from the graphic novel American Born Chinese)

? TASKS 1

Why do you think Jin is treated badly at his school?

2 The story Jin’s mother tells in the first two pages is meant to teach Jin a lesson. What do you think she wants to say?

3 Have you experienced feelings of not fitting among your peers in school or outside?

4 What do you think goes through Jin’s head when arriving at the house?

5 Have you ever thought about changing anything about yourself in order to fit in with a specific group of people?

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famous for what by Hollie McNish

FAMOUS for WhaT BY

hollie mcnish poem

> One in three young adults in Norway say they want to be a celebrity.

I asked my class what everyone wanted to be And a lot of them told me a celebrity In magazines in television On football fields or worldwide singing We went round the class with everyone giving an answer.

Then I asked her.

What do you want to be? What would be your dream job?

She said she was going to be famous, Miss and everybody scoffed She doesn’t talk a lot you see just sits and licks her lip gloss in lessons She said shut up, she’s going become famous and everybody laughed again I turned around and asked her ‘for what then?

She looked shocked And didn’t understand I said I’d like to hear your plans and how you’ll get that life then I repeated what I said I said I said ‘famous for what’, then cos I hear young people say this all the time they say it more and more She twitched a bit and bit her lip and looked down at the

scoff: speak about someone or something in a way that shows you think it is ridiculous

twitch: make a little jumping movement

/ Identity

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Identity / famous for what by Hollie McNish

floor She said she just meant really famous, rich, and didn’t really know what for Well bigger boobs and Big Brother that’s all been done to death I said A few have famous families who get them in ahead Actors, sports and music stars they all work very hard I said People who are famous are not all just the same She said her best friend kissed a footballer now everybody knows her name I said my best friend saved a life today and no one knows her face Loads of folks are photographed for their clothes or who they kiss at night But some are really famous for more than how they show their life Famous TV chefs she says, I smile and say that’s right But there are famous people all around you might not know from sight People who write your favourite stories but don’t glory in the limelight Many people who you’d think look boring I think you should look twice cos some are Famous for inventing things you use or new discoveries Famous for the places they have seen and been uncovering Some are famous for the people or the countries that they help Other folks are famous for the products that you buy they sell

limelight: recognition, fame invent: create something new

uncover: find out about something

famous for what by Hollie McNish  / Identity

105

106

Identity / famous for what by Hollie McNish

Some people are famous for their songs or books or magazines Not those in the photo spots but the ones who write behind the scenes Some people are famous for drawing beautifully and adding things She said she wished she had shaped lips that kissed like Kim Kardashian I said me too they’re really nice but that would not change anything She said she cannot sing, I said to her so what There are so many other things you could be famous for She said she doesn’t see those people How would she ever choose I said think about the things that really mean a lot to you The things that make you happier the things you love to use The rules you might not like or the laws that all affect you She said she hates her school and the subjects that she’s taking I said then go become a famous Minister of Education Cos someone is in charge of your school, your hospital, your food, your money Someone decides on all the stuff you have to learn and study What age you have to be to do things you want to do and play People make up all the rules you have to follow every day What medicines you use when ill or how much your work will pay Decide if you might go to war one day or how to lower violence rates How many playgrounds we should build, how many plants or grass or trees And none of these people are YouTube hit celebrities But the affect they have upon your life is huge your friends your families

famous for what by Hollie McNish / Identity

All I’m saying is not everyone that does stuff is in magazines And there are so many options and you could do much more And if you still want to be famous Just remember to find out what for.

TASKS 1

Read the poem aloud to each other.

Use various ways of performing by putting stress and pauses in different places in the sentences. Play with words and find your favourite way of performing.

2 Search the Internet and listen to the author performing her poem.

Do you like the rhythm, compared to the ones you have tried out?

3 What is the poem trying to teach us? Is there a moral to the poem?

If there is, what do you think it is?

4 If you could choose, what would you want to become famous for? How many in your class want to become celebrities?

107

blues for reddress by Jay Soule alias Chippewar

/ Indigenous Peoples

269

BLUes for REDDRes S BY

jay soule alias chippewar painting

> In many parts of the world, indigenous women suffer

a higher rate of domestic violence, sexual assault, kidnapping and murder than non-indigenous women.

TASKS 1

What do you think the painter is trying to say by using the empty red dresses in the picture?

2 How would you describe the mood of the painting?

3 What colours has the painter chosen to use, and why?

4 The word “blue(s)” is used in expressions such as “feeling blue” and “having the blues”. What do these expressions mean?

5 Search for information about indigenous women as victims of abuse and violence.

## re

164

English Around the World /

lullabye (goodnight, my angel) by Billy Joel

LULLABYE (GOODNIGHT, MY ANGEL) BY

billy joel lyrics

> Can you remember a lullabye from your childhood?

Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes And save these questions for another day I think I know what you’ve been asking me I think you know what I’ve been trying to say I promised I would never leave you Then you should always know Wherever you may go, no matter where you are I never will be far away Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to sleep And still so many things I want to say Remember all the songs you sang for me When we went sailing on an emerald bay And like a boat out on the ocean I’m rocking you to sleep The water’s dark and deep, inside this ancient heart You’ll always be a part of me

emerald: green

ancient: very old

lullabye (goodnight, my angel) by Billy Joel / English Around the World

Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to dream And dream how wonderful your life will be Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullabye Then in your heart there will always be a part of me Someday we’ll all be gone But lullabies go on and on They never die That’s how you and I will be

TASKS 1

Is there a lullabye you remember from your childhood, and if so, what feelings do you associate with it?

2 Who sings lullabies, and why?

3 Write a short list with the kinds of questions you think the child has been asking in the first stanza.

4 In the final stanza, the song quickly shifts forward in time. Discuss specifically how and where this shift can be seen. What effect does this speeding up of time have on the song?

165

204

Citizenship /

america is a gun by Brian Bilston

AMERICA IS A GUN BY

brian bilston poem

> In the US, more than 30 000 people lose their lives to a gun every year.

England is a cup of tea.

France, a wheel of ripened brie.

Greece, a short, squat olive tree.

America is a gun.

Brazil is a football on the sand.

Argentina, Maradona’s hand.

Germany, an oompah band.

America is a gun.

Holland is a wooden shoe.

Hungary, a goulash stew.

Australia, a kangaroo.

America is a gun.

Japan is a thermal spring.

Scotland is a highland fling.

Oh, better to be anything than America as a gun.

ripened: ready to eat squat: short and wide

oompah band: band with horns stew: meat and vegetable dish

thermal: heat-producing fling: dance

america is a gun by Brian Bilston / Citizenship

TASKS 1

What do you know about gun violence in the USA? Search for facts and tell a classmate about the situation in the USA today.

2 How do the gun laws in the USA differ from the Norwegian laws on keeping and using weapons? Make a list to show the main differences.

3 Metonymy is a poetic device in which an object (say, tea) stands in for another thing (say, a country like England) normally associated with that thing. Pick out three of the metonymies in this poem, and discuss whether you think they are effective or not.

4 Why do you think the poem shifts away from rhyme when moving from “tea … brie … tree” to “America is a gun”?

5 Do you agree with the poem’s ending? Why or why not?

205

Echo

Echo texts in English is a collection of texts written in or translated into English. It contains exciting, amusing, moving and thought-provoking stories presented in different forms such as short stories, excerpts from novels, graphic stories, poems, paintings, photos and song lyrics.

Each title is accompanied by a short introduction and followed by a glossary and tasks.

Echo digital student offers a variety of student activities, including videos featuring young people from English-speaking countries and a library containing both fiction and non-fiction.

TEXTS IN ENGLISH 8–10

Echo digital teacher meets the requirements of the 2020 English curriculum by incorporating the latest research and the most advanced classroom teaching practices. A selection of flexible lesson plans ensure that teachers can provide students with the learing resources they need.

The new features of the 2020 English curriculum are explained using examples and references to the text collection and lesson plans.

Focus is on the following topics: > assessment > multilingualism > deep learning > differentiation > interdisciplinary work > basic skills > democracy and citizenship > health and life skills

ISBN 978-82-11-03429-8

,!7II2B1-adecji!

Echo

TEXTS IN ENGLISH

8 –10

Tony Burner Christian Carlsen Kevin Steinman